MEST 1 Cross Media Study-Toy Story 3

2) How are texts in the three platforms constructed?

Disney Pixar promote Toy Story 3 through print, broadcast and e-media. Print media such as colourful billboards and magazines are used to attract a young audience. Broadcast media such as trailers and cinema release dates are available online (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435761/releaseinfo). E-media such as Facebook and Twitter have Toy Story 3 sites which allow fans to interact.

Print:

The official Toy Story 3 magazine has easy to read formal language. This is because its targeted for children and specialises for their needs e.g. games, puzzles, interactive quizzes. The codes and conventions of a magazine is to inform as well as entertain children in particular. Empire magazine also conducted an interviw with Tom Hanks who plays Woody in Toy Story 3 (http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=24621). Reviews of the film also contain formal language as it targets adults more than children, examples are The Guardian (broadsheet newspaper) where information about the cast, certificate, narrative and ratings are given (http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jul/18/toy-story-3-film-review). Within print, the official magazine is obviously promoted differently from the Empire magazine as they target different audiences. The Toy Story 3 magazine targets children and Empire targets an older C1-D audience.

Broadcast:

Talk radio interviews with director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla Anderson have taken place on BBC Radio 1Xtra (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00923z4). This is in the form of a question and answer interview, where exclusive information about the film can be revealed. Television also offers exclusive interviews with the cast along with behind the scenes on BBC One. Radio interviews tend to target an older aydience whereas children would be more interested in watching exclusive scenes on television.

E-Media:

YouTube offers several cast interviews and behind the scene exclusive footage. The Toy Story 3 website offers instant interaction with audiences e.g. games, competitions, video clips and quizzes. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter also offer interaction with an older audience as they have the chance to like pictures, videos and leave comments.  Reviews of the film also contain formal language as it targets adults more than children, examples are Rotten Tomatoes where information about the cast, certificate, narrative and ratings are given (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/toy_story_3/). The Toy Story 3 website targets children as it offers interactivity relevant for them e.g. games and competitions, whereas social networking sites target an older audience as they have the opportunity to leave comments and their thoughts on the film.

The similarities of the three broadcasts are that they all offer useful information to audiences related to Toy Story 3, e.g. TV and the internet show trailers and the official magazine offers information of the official website where the trailer can be watched. The differences between the broadcasts are the audiences that they target. For example online social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter reach a 15 and over audience, however the Toy Story 3 print magazine is made to target children. E-Media is better at reaching audiences rather than print as it is usually free, and widely/easily consumed.

MEST 1 Cross Media Study - Toy Story 3

1) Film Media in context

Toy Story 3 is promoted to audiences through print, broadcast and E-Media. This means that hand copies of the film's promotion are available e.g. magazines. Broadcast is where promotion is done through television, e.g. advertisements and film trailers. E-Media uses the internet for promotion e.g. the official Toy Story 3 website.

Print Media:

As print media is costly due to producing official magazines and billboards for advertisement and promotion materials, it means that Disney's budget of $200 million had to go towards print media. Below are examples of billboards and the Toy Story 3 official magazine.














Broadcast media:

When Toy Story 3 is scheduled on television channels such as BBC One and BBC One HD, viewing may not always be taken into account and counted as Sky Plus allows viewers to record the film and watch later and also showed the Toy Story 3 trailer before the movie release. Viewers also have the chance to catch up with the film on BBC iPlayer, available online and on Sky catch up TV. The official DVD allows fans to purchase the disc.



E-Media

Facebook and Twitter social media is used in order for fans to interact with the film. The official Toy Story website (http://toystory.disney.com/) allows fans to purchase items, play games, watch videos, view the gallery and buy the movie. As there is alot of piracy on the internet, it is hard to police Toy Story 3 films posted on the internet as most are not legit. The world wide web allows people to view as much information as they want on the film, which could be overwhelming.  Youtube and online sites such as Netflix also allows audiences to watch Toy Story 3 online.

Changing technologies:

As technology is increasing for both adults and children, print media such as billboards used for promotion along with TV guides are also used with e-media in order to promote to an audience on a large scale. For example, print media such as billboards offer film release dates and so do the Toy Story 3 social networking sites e.g. Facebook and Twitter. Due to audiences preferring e-media, it is used on a much larger scale, whereas print media was preferred before. E-media is free for audiences to use as they would not have to pay to follow the twitter fan page, however they would have to pay for prints such as the Toy Story 3 magazine.

Ill Manors e-media questions

Facebook:

1) The Facebook page has 30,096 likes.

2) The top of the page is promoting the film Ill Manors.

3) The photos available on the page for Ben Drew's appearance at the Brit Awards 2013 promotes the film as it states 'It caps off a great 2012 for Ben who released his debut film Ill Manors, which is out now: http://bit.ly/iLLManorsDVD', providing the link and opportunity for fans to purchase and watch the film. The British Independent Film awards also promotes the film as it mentions Ben Drew is again nominated for awards. While promoting Anuvahood and Offender, Revolver Entertainment give the chance to celebrate Total Film's 200th issue, and have goodies to giveaway. People who want to win should dead over to have the chacne to win Ill Manors, Anuvahood and Offender Signed Merchandise and Blu-rays! At: http://bit.ly/Sc3LxU. 

4) Revolver Entertainment give fans a chance to win a copy of Ill Manors as a celebration of their 15 year anniversary. Also, a question saying 'Is Ill Manors your anthem of the year' with the video link attached below is asked to fans, encouraging them to watch the music video. Another question asked is 'Aged 16-19 years old and want a chance to make a short film? We've partnered with the BFI Film Academy to give you that chance. ' This gives fans the opportunity to win. 

5) The top image of the page shows the DVD cover of Ill Manors, below it in the information section it includes the 'buy now' DVD links for the film. The album is promoted through a video link and the opportunity for fans to leave their comments/reviews. Also, the DVD is promoted as a post says 'Pick up the Limited Edition Lenticular cover on Blu-Ray or DVD at Amazon UK or Download it on iTunes (UK) today', providing relevant links to purchase. 

6) 

7) In May it released the film trailer, the coming in cinema date, film review links, win a chance to attend the world premiere of Ill Manors, exclusive previews etc. 

Twitter:

1)  The Ill Manors logo and background image is used from the DVD cover on the Twitter page, promoting the film.

2) The hashtags used are: #illmanors, #legaldownloads, #vod, #mustbuy, #support, #brilliant, #loveit.

3) Anouska Mond tweeted 'Anyone watch #illmanors this weekend? Watcha think? Hope you enjoyed it!' This obviously appeals to the Ill Manors audience as Anouska starred in the film as one of the main characters. Plan B also tweeted 'Big thanx all the peeps who came out to HMV tonite! Enjoy the movie!! #illmanors'. Plan B is the director of the film, also appealing to the Ill Manors audience as he is the main face of the brand. Chris tweeted 'HMV Ill Manors DVD signing was great!! Thanks to all Ill Manors fans who came down!!! Good to c @iLLmanors family!!'. Chris also plays a mian role in the film so targets Ill Manors target audience/fans.

4) The twitter page includes pictures of the Ill Manors DVD cover, HMV signings with the cast of the film and behind the scenes images. All of these are related to Ill Manors, whether it is the characters or DVD cover, therefore promoting the film.

5)  The Tag London campaign in the Ill Manors twitter feed tweeted 'Olympics gonna leave us with #taglondon', '#illmanors look around, what do you see? #taglondon' and '#illmanors simple word... life!!! #taglondon'. This does not target a particular audience, however targets those who want to make their views on London and life clear and spread to everyone.

6) During May/June 2012 posts such as 'Excited about the release of the film next week? Make sure you check out the album Ill Manors, out July 16th' were tweeted. This tweet is straight forward and to the point, it clearly promotes the film release and gives a specific time period of the release along with a date for the album release. Another tweet is '5 days to go: Ill Manors is out in cinemas next Wednesday and booking is now open. Find your nearest cinema.' This promotes the film effectively by telling followers when the film is out and what day in cinema. In October, the tweet 'Have you pre-ordered your copy yet' was tweeted, with the relevant links e.g. Amazon. This provides links for followers to be able to easily access and buy the DVD.

Instagram:

1) The instagram page '4planb' focuses on the Ill Manors film. The film is promoted through images posted on the page such as the DVD cover and posters with release dates.

2) The image of the DVD cover promotes the film by showing followers it is out for them on Blu-ray and DVD and available for them to buy. Another post of an Ill Manors poster shows the release date of the film, encouraging viewers to look out for it and watch it. Finally an image of several signed copies of Ill Manor posters has been posted. This promotes the film along with Ben Drew the director himself as his autograph is on them.

3) The hashtag #illmanors is used on the instagram page, as well as other social networking sites such as twitter. Therefore there is a consistency, this is used to establish the brand name itself. Therefore everything that has this specific hashtag is related to Ill Manors film.

4) The DVD cover of Ill Manors has the hashtag #illmanors. On the e-media sites, when promoting the DVD through twitter and facebook this hashtag is also used. The DVD helps to promote the Ill Manors branding. Another image with #illmanors is a canvas that looks like the billboard (print) of Ill Manors. This image is instantly recognised as it is the Ill Manors background image constantly used in platforms. Audiences can easily recognise this and relate back to the film. Finally, images with Ben Drew at awards on stage are also tagged with #illmanors and #britawards. This shows he was at the awards for his nominations for his film Ill Manors. This broadcast platform allows a mass audience to watch Ben Drew on television and virally and discuss Ill Manors, also promoting it.

YouTube:

1) The planbuk channel promotes the Ill Manors album along with the film which has the same title. It includes reviews and ratings from newspapers and maagzines. The page includes video links which contain related information to the Ill Manors film that Plan B has published. For example, the 'I am the narrator video' and the official Ill Manors trailer.

2) The YouTube channel also the Ill Manors album by showing that it is available to buy on iTunes and also provides a link. This is also seen on media platforms such as social networking sites (Facebook and Twitter), billboards and magazine print ads. All of these promote the film as Ill Manors is both the title of the film as well as the album. Therefore by seeing the title 'Ill Manors', it would remind an audience of film which is why the album is so widely promoted. These platforms appeal to the Ill Manors target audience as they usually allow interaction (e-media). The target audience is generally young and therefore more technology aware.

3) Links to social networking sites such as, Facebook, Twitter, Google plus, Soundcloud are available on the YouTube page.

Tag London Campaign

1) The Ill Manors Tag London campaign partnered with the creative agency, Powster, where fans were then prompted to tweet the new account @TagLondon and hashtag #illmanors. Fans were asked to write about their feelings on the current state of Britain. The campaign received over 5,000 responses and 300 tweets were selected. The chosen messages were projected in areas of iconic London sites. This was the absolute peak of the #illmanors hashtag as it received over 1.3k tweets that day, compared to the average daily 220 tweets per day. In order to promote, Atlantic Records partnered with a live stream production company, LoveLive. This allowed them to produce a live stream for the campaign and the stream of the launch party was put onto YouTube.

2) The campaign helps to promote the film as it spread the hashtag and branding of Ill Manors. This helped to create further awareness for the film and the narrative of the film as it represents people who suffer and do not have a say. However, this campaign gave people in Britain the chance to speak out as their messages were heard and broadcasted.

3) The Tag London campaign was promoted virally, with the help of YouTube. Other opportunities for fans such as 'a chance to win' an Ill Manors DVD for example, have also been promoted on the internet on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

4) This campaign is successful because it allows interaction for Ill Manors fans. Other media campaigns could involve protests, however these are usually in one specific area and the Ill Manors video has been streamed on many online links. Therefore, by gaining more views and awareness the campaign has been successful in achieving their initial goal, to get voices of Britain heard.

5) '#ILLMANORS #IGNORINGTHEPROBLEM DOES NOT SOLVE IT? #INSPIREKIDS DON'T PUT THEM DOWN? #SOCIALCHANGECOMESTHROUGHACTION NOT INACTION? @4PLANB'

This tweet could appeal to a C1/C2 demographic audience who are in their middle ages as it is directing this generation to support and encourage young people, rather than doing the opposite. It appeals to mainstreamers, using psychographics as the tweet is targeting a wide mass audience, as kids feel ignored on a wide scale. This tweet links to Plan B's TedX lecture as he speaks about inspiration as one of his main topics and that children who are more deprived than others are in need, and parents/teachers/society should do something to help young people rather than ignoring them. In the film Ill Manors, young people are represented in this way.

'#ILLMANORS JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF CAMERON'S BROKEN BRITIAN'

This tweet is appeals to a D/E demographic audience and the strugglers group from the psychographics theory. This is because these groups are likely to feel negativity towards the parties in control Britain as they do not help the poor. This links to the Ill Manors music video. David Cameron is presented in a negative manor in the video, showing the reality of people being against him. In the Ill Manors film, characters are shown to disrespect authority such as the police, by the way they communicate with them. Therefore it relates to the lack of respect authority are gaining from certain young groups of people.

'#ILLMANORS INCLUSION NOT EXCLUSION'

This tweet appeals to a A-E demographic audience and mainstreamers, using psychographics. This is because exclusion can be a feeling everyone feels, therefore targeting everyone and anyone. This can link to Plan B's Jonathan Ross Interview as he speaks about the exclusion people (especially young people) and uses examples from characters in the film.

#'ILLMANORS YOU CAN'T EAT MONEY... BUT YOU CAN EAT THE RICH'

This tweets appeals to a D/E demographic audience and strugglers using psychographics. This is because it targets the rich and sheds them in a negative light, going against them. This relates to Plan B's Ill Manors music video as it is very against the rich, e.g. David Cameron. This is made obvious in the video, and again in the film disrespect is shown to authorities such as the police.

'ON PRINCIPLE, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TEENAGER LOOTING TRAINERS AND A POLITICIAN STEALING THOUSANDS IN EXPENSES? #ILLMANORS'

This targets a A-E demographic and mainstream psychographics audience. This is because it appeals to a wide audience and tries to get a message across to everyone, those who look at young looters negatively and those who look at politicians stealing negatively. This relates to Plan B's TedX lecture as he speaks about the state of young people in Britain and reputations. His Ill Manors music video was based on the London Riots and looting is what took place during this event.

Section B learner response

Ill Manors uses the same white font style in all three media platforms: broadcast, print and e-media. The connotations of the colour white represent innocence and purity. During Plan B's broadcast interview on the Jonathan Ross show, he speaks about characters in the film being mistreated, representing the vast majority of people who face the similar situations in reality. He also discusses this in his radio one interview with Fearne Cotton and numerous print ads such as magazine interviews and newspaper articles e.g. the guardian. The white font uses on DVD covers, billboards, social networking sites (Facebook and Twitter) etc and all media platforms represent the fact that characters were pure and innocent before they were involved in certain/negative situations, as shown in the film. The font helps audiences recognise the Ill Manors branding through font and colour scheme uses repeatedly. The differences in the platforms are that e-media provides interaction with audiences e.g. tweets and comments. Print provides website links in order for interaction along with information. Broadcasts also provide links. The uses and gratifications theory of diversion can be used as audiences use the e-media and media platforms to diverse from their every day life and interact with others.

Ill Manors social network analysis

The technique used to promote Ill Manors on Facebook and Twitter is by allowing readers to win a copy of the film. This gets audiences involved with Ill Manors and also promotes the distributors Revolver Entertainment as their 15 year anniversary is celebrated. 

The fact that Plan B has been nominated for BRIT awards, shows the recognition he has gained as a brand representation for his film Ill Manors. As audiences know that famous celebrities and artists attend the BRIT awards, for Plan B to be nominated for awards helps to promote the film along with his achievements.

Although this Facebook post and Twitter feed advertises the chance for audiences to get involved with BFI Film Academy, essentially by mentioning Revolver Entertainments as Ill Manor's distributors it is promoting the film also. The posts assume that audiences aged 16-19 know what Ill Manors is, and if not they can research it in order to find out and see whether this opportunity interests them or not. 

The exclusive clip that has been revealed from the film includes John Cooper Clarke. The famous poet and performer is used as a celebrity endorsement for those who recognise him in order to attract more audiences to the film.

The Facebook and Twitter feed clearly advertises and promotes Ill Manors as it includes links of where people can buy the film on either DVD, Blu-Ray or iTunes. By using the word 'Limited Edition' it makes audiences feel as though it is a rare opportunity, therefore encouraging them to purchase the film.

Print platforms: Advertising

1) The key conventions help the audience identity the print text. The billboard uses a central image of Plan B, helping us identify who the billboard is about. It also uses large bold text to clearly represent the title, Ill Manors. It provides relevant information as a text usually would of the title and release date.

2) The central image shows Plan B holding a cigarette, implying he is smoking. This gives an immediate negative stereotype of Plan B and would make people who are older than him not in his favour. Whereas a group of people similar to his age may also participate in similar activities. Plan B as a Brand is therefore being presented in a negative manor. The white text saying 'Ill Manors' contrasts to the image as white has the connotations of purity and innocence. Finally, the billboard has a background image of Plan B at a council house/estate area. This could help identify the target audience for Ill Manors.

3) The Ill Manors movie billboard also promotes the album and soundtrack as it includes a release date.

1) On this DVD cover, the central image is placed in the middle of the main character (protagonist) in the film. Ill manors is clearly presented on the central image in big bold white writing. This could connote a sense of purity about the character. It also includes a cover line 'an absolute must see', in order to encourage audiences to watch the film. 

2) The background image is of buildings that very much look like estate buildings. However, they are slightly glamourised by having flash lighting added to them. The character on the DVD cover is holding a gun, suggesting Ill Manors contains violence, and therefore targeting a specific audience. For example, it is more likely to appeal to a younger audience rather than elderly people who have no interest in watching in crime and violence. The fact that the characters head is surrounded by stars and reviews is giving a positive representation of Ill Manors, in the sense that it is well recognised. The cover also clearly states that Ill Manors is made for those 18 and over, meaning that it will contain violence and possible sex scenes.

3) Essentially, by showing all the names of newspapers/magazines/websites where Ill Manors have gained positive reviews, the DVD cover is advertising them along with Ill Manors. 

1) This poster has a clear title below the main image. The white text and red background contrast to good vs evil. The main image includes most main characters in the film, which is unusual as print texts usually focus on one or two main characters when advertising a film. The cover line at the of the poster 'a raw and exciting directorial debut' is used to encourage audiences to watch the film.

2) The fact that the main colours used on this poster are red, black and white, it suggests a very violent feel. The red connotes blood and murder, and Ill Manors contains various scenes of violence. The white background suggests that all characters could have a pure past or future, depending on their actions. As all of the characters are placed together, it shows they have connections to one another in some way or form. 

3) The poster includes information of the Ill Manors soundtrack and album and the bottom of the poster, essentially advertising the song along with the film to audiences.